Thoughts about God, Law, Politics and Whatever Else Comes Up by Robert W. Bright, J.D.

STATE OF OKLAHOMA
2nd Session of the 51st Legislature (2008)
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 1089

By: Key
AS INTRODUCED

A Joint Resolution claiming sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over certain powers; serving notice to the federal government to cease and desist certain
mandates; and directing distribution.

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States reads as follows:

“The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.”; and

WHEREAS, the Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that specifically granted by the Constitution of the United States and no more; and

WHEREAS, the scope of power defined by the Tenth Amendment means that the federal government was created by the states specifically to be an agent of the states; and

WHEREAS, today, in 2008, the states are demonstrably treated as agents of the federal government; and

WHEREAS, many federal mandates are directly in violation of the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States; and

WHEREAS, the United States Supreme Court has ruled in New York v. United States, 112 S. Ct. 2408 (1992), that Congress may not simply commandeer the legislative and regulatory processes of the
states; and

WHEREAS, a number of proposals from previous administrations and some now pending from the present administration and from Congress may further violate the Constitution of the United States.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SENATE OF THE 2ND SESSION OF THE 51ST OKLAHOMA LEGISLATURE:

THAT the State of Oklahoma hereby claims sovereignty under the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States over all powers not otherwise enumerated and granted to the federal government by the Constitution of the United States.

THAT this serve as Notice and Demand to the federal government, as our agent, to cease and desist, effective immediately, mandates that are beyond the scope of these constitutionally delegated
powers.

THAT a copy of this resolution be distributed to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Speaker of the House and the President of the Senate of each state’s legislature of the United States of America, and each member of the Oklahoma Congressional Delegation.

MY COMMENTS:

The 10th Amendment is hardly referred to anymore by federal politicans (with the exception of Ron Paul). The ignoring of the 10th Amendment is understandable because it reserves to the states and the people any powers not delegated to the federal government in the constitution. Thus, for example, since the constitution doesn’t discuss travel or airplanes, the federal government has no legal basis for regulating the airlines. That power is reserved to the states and the people – unless and until the constitution is AMENDED – which as I recall has been successfully done on several occasions in the past.

The list of things that the Fed Gov is doing but does not have authority to do because of the 10th Amendment is staggering. The reason federal politicians ignore the 10th is that they would have little to do if the 10th were applied as intended by the Founding Fathers.

I wonder when the 2nd Civil War will start. . . This was ultimately the issue which the South based their secession on in the Civil War (War of Northern Aggression). Yes, the South owned slaves, and yes, that was a factor. However, the South had outlawed the foreign slave trade in the Confederate Constitution – BEFORE THE NORTH OUTLAWED THE FOREIGN SLAVE TRADE.

For all the evils of slavery, the South was primarily concerned with an enlarging federal government telling them what to do – which is clearly not what the Founders intended. And, of course, since the Civil War, we have had a continually enlarging federal government that tells the states what to do.

And by the way, Lincoln wasn’t really all that interested in freeing slaves unless it was politically expedient or if he could “free” them and send them back to Africa. Further, the Emancipation Proclamation didn’t actually free any slaves. If you don’t believe me, sit down and read it carefully sometime. It did not apply to the northern states where there were still slaves and it only applied to the southern states – which had established their own government. Technically, it was not a “civil war” in the commonly thought of sense because the South was not trying to take over the Northern Government.

Note, also, that the Military Academy at West Point was teaching seccession as a right of the states as late as the 1850s.

Anyway, there probably won’t be a civil war arising from Oklahoma’s action below. The Fed Gov will likely just start cutting off Federal funding to various programs in Oklahoma until they give in.

Still, it’s a very nice gesture. If several states would do the same thing, we could actually see some real change – as opposed to the “change” to an even larger Federal Government as proposed by Obama, Clinton and McCain.